Women who go to church ‘are less likely to die early’

GOING to church is good for women’s health and can cut the risk of dying early by a third.

Attending just once a week is linked to a lower risk of death from all causes, a US study showed.

Researchers say they do not know why, but expect it has to do with optimism and a sense of community overcoming the effects of stress and depression.

Women who went to church more than once a week had a 33 per cent lower risk of death during the 16year study compared with women who never went to church.

Those who went weekly had a 26 per cent lower risk and those who attended services less than weekly had a 13 per cent lower risk.

Dr Tyler VanderWeele, a professor of epidemiology of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, looked at the church-going of protestant and Roman Catholic nurses.

Writing in JAMA Internal Medicine, he said: ‘Part of the benefit seems to be that attending religious services increases social support, discourages smoking, decreases depression, and helps people develop a more optimistic or hopeful outlook on life.’